Kevin Mahoney is the Founder and Editor Zero of Raging Chicken Press. When he's not rabble-rousing on Raging Chicken, he's teaching rhetoric and writing at Kutztown University.
There is no way to know what happened that night with absolute certainty.
Zimmerman was acquitted by a jury of his peers. It’s time to move on, bridge the chasm of race relations, and try to learn from this tragedy instead of exact vengeance. Any further action against Mr. Zimmerman is not justice for Trayvon, but a miscarriage of it.
It’s time for Martin’s family to start the healing process, for Mr. Zimmerman to move on with his life, and for everyone to stop being divisive and start looking for ways we can avoid violent encounters that end in bloodshed.
Oh but we do know what happened that night. A vigilante with a gun went after a 17yr old kid walking home from the store. The viglilante was told to stop and stay in his truck after the 911 call. He didn’t, he got out and tracked the kid. Now if you were a 17yr old would you think you were being stalked by a pedophile, or someone who wanted to rob you? Zimmerman couldn’t tell police what street he was on…there were only 3 streets in the neighborhood…he knew the police were coming, but he couldn’t wait…he attacked that kid, and killed him. Now the DOJ states, they are going to investigate the matter…Zimmerman better get plastic surgery quick, cuz he is well known now and will forever be looking over his shoulder. Justice was not served in racist Sanford.
You have no proof of any of that (aside from Zimmerman exiting his vehicle while he was on the phone with the police on a recorded line) and the evidence in the case suggests otherwise. Your whole argument is from an emotional standpoint. When I was 17, I wasn’t involved in or refereeing fights, smoking marijuana, attempting to purchase a handgun illegally on twitter, stealing from lockers or getting kicked out of school on multiple occasions.
A completely valid and alternate theory to the night was that the captain of the neighborhood watch (well liked by his peers and the police) called the police to report an unfamiliar suspicious person loitering around a sleepy neighborhood. The suspicious person takes off running, and the watch captain goes to see where he went. After being unable to find the person, he turns to return to his vehicle, and is confronted by the suspicious person. The watch captain is punched in the face, falls to the ground, and his head is repeatedly slammed against the sidewalk by this mysterious assailant. His firearm is seen by his attacker, who attempts to gain control of it. The watch captain, in fear for his life after being brutally attacked, draws and fires one round into the attacker.
Now, tell me, with race and age removed (Martin is portrayed as this swaddling babe the day before the shooting when in reality he was half a foot taller and in far better physical condition than Zimmerman) why would someone go to all of the trouble of calling the police, cooperating with the police, and giving the police every avenue to find fault and charge him? They ruled it a justifiable defensive shooting. It was only after the DoJ got wind of the shooting did the state send a special prosecutor to bring charges. This is all a part of a greater narrative to whip up tensions.
The truth is that the media, and our political betters, don’t care about the homicide of blacks. 480 blacks and counting have been murdered in Chicago since Zimmerman shot Martin. Where’s the media outcry and 24 hour news reporting on that story? You’re being fed false outrage about the death of one person (a cocksure 17 year old with a violent streak) while hundreds die all over the country.
Florida is still the “Deep South”, where it is still legal to shoot someone to death, … under the “right” circumstances. We should be shocked, but not surprised by the outcome of this trial.
Rewatching To Kill a Mockingbird…we must not allow ourselves to become polarized. we must affirm human rights and not condone wrong doing. In an attack situation, the least force necessary to protect ourselves is the proper action. We must not retreat into the mistakes of the 70’s. Violence was accepted in black activists and this resulted in terrible death and injuries to well-meaning liberals. Wrong is wrong and must never be justified. the killing of the young man was wrong and maybe the killer had not had proper gun training… maybe he was angry and filled with hate. If we do not stop the anger and violence we will be very vulnerable to control and manipulation. energy companies have used the ethnic card to keep their target groups from united action against exploitation..even committing the crimes through hired thugs and military. Ken Wiwa gave his life for revealing this truth..genocide in Nigeria. Divided we all lose.
There is no way to know what happened that night with absolute certainty.
Zimmerman was acquitted by a jury of his peers. It’s time to move on, bridge the chasm of race relations, and try to learn from this tragedy instead of exact vengeance. Any further action against Mr. Zimmerman is not justice for Trayvon, but a miscarriage of it.
It’s time for Martin’s family to start the healing process, for Mr. Zimmerman to move on with his life, and for everyone to stop being divisive and start looking for ways we can avoid violent encounters that end in bloodshed.
Oh but we do know what happened that night. A vigilante with a gun went after a 17yr old kid walking home from the store. The viglilante was told to stop and stay in his truck after the 911 call. He didn’t, he got out and tracked the kid. Now if you were a 17yr old would you think you were being stalked by a pedophile, or someone who wanted to rob you? Zimmerman couldn’t tell police what street he was on…there were only 3 streets in the neighborhood…he knew the police were coming, but he couldn’t wait…he attacked that kid, and killed him. Now the DOJ states, they are going to investigate the matter…Zimmerman better get plastic surgery quick, cuz he is well known now and will forever be looking over his shoulder. Justice was not served in racist Sanford.
You have no proof of any of that (aside from Zimmerman exiting his vehicle while he was on the phone with the police on a recorded line) and the evidence in the case suggests otherwise. Your whole argument is from an emotional standpoint. When I was 17, I wasn’t involved in or refereeing fights, smoking marijuana, attempting to purchase a handgun illegally on twitter, stealing from lockers or getting kicked out of school on multiple occasions.
A completely valid and alternate theory to the night was that the captain of the neighborhood watch (well liked by his peers and the police) called the police to report an unfamiliar suspicious person loitering around a sleepy neighborhood. The suspicious person takes off running, and the watch captain goes to see where he went. After being unable to find the person, he turns to return to his vehicle, and is confronted by the suspicious person. The watch captain is punched in the face, falls to the ground, and his head is repeatedly slammed against the sidewalk by this mysterious assailant. His firearm is seen by his attacker, who attempts to gain control of it. The watch captain, in fear for his life after being brutally attacked, draws and fires one round into the attacker.
Now, tell me, with race and age removed (Martin is portrayed as this swaddling babe the day before the shooting when in reality he was half a foot taller and in far better physical condition than Zimmerman) why would someone go to all of the trouble of calling the police, cooperating with the police, and giving the police every avenue to find fault and charge him? They ruled it a justifiable defensive shooting. It was only after the DoJ got wind of the shooting did the state send a special prosecutor to bring charges. This is all a part of a greater narrative to whip up tensions.
The truth is that the media, and our political betters, don’t care about the homicide of blacks. 480 blacks and counting have been murdered in Chicago since Zimmerman shot Martin. Where’s the media outcry and 24 hour news reporting on that story? You’re being fed false outrage about the death of one person (a cocksure 17 year old with a violent streak) while hundreds die all over the country.
Florida is still the “Deep South”, where it is still legal to shoot someone to death, … under the “right” circumstances. We should be shocked, but not surprised by the outcome of this trial.
Rewatching To Kill a Mockingbird…we must not allow ourselves to become polarized. we must affirm human rights and not condone wrong doing. In an attack situation, the least force necessary to protect ourselves is the proper action. We must not retreat into the mistakes of the 70’s. Violence was accepted in black activists and this resulted in terrible death and injuries to well-meaning liberals. Wrong is wrong and must never be justified. the killing of the young man was wrong and maybe the killer had not had proper gun training… maybe he was angry and filled with hate. If we do not stop the anger and violence we will be very vulnerable to control and manipulation. energy companies have used the ethnic card to keep their target groups from united action against exploitation..even committing the crimes through hired thugs and military. Ken Wiwa gave his life for revealing this truth..genocide in Nigeria. Divided we all lose.
oops..that was supposed to read Not Allow Ourselves To Be Polarized!!!!We must be united for human rights or we will all lose.